Joao Maria de Orleans e Braganca

With the qualified exception of Mexico, Brazil is the only country in Latin America to have flirted with a monarchic system of government in the post-independence era, and, had things gone differently, Prince Joao Maria de Orleans e Braganca, who has died of a stroke aged 88, might have been a contender for the Brazilian throne.

As it turned out, he had to be content with life as a Brazilian air force pilot, and as an airline executive.

But in contrast to the brief and tragic tale of the French-imposed Emperor Maximilian in Mexico, Brazil's flirtation lasted almost a century. And even in 1992, an attempt by the Orleans e Braganca dynasty at restoration still attracted 20% of the vote in a nationwide referendum.

Prince Joao, great-grandson of Brazil's last emperor, Pedro II, was born in exile in Boulogne-Billancourt in France. His father, Dom Pedro d'Alcantara, formerly the Prince Imperial, had renounced his claim to the throne - and that of his descendants - in 1908, just before his wedding to Joao's mother, a Bohemian aristocrat.

The validity of this renunciation has been disputed by his branch of the family almost ever since, leading to a controversy - now more than a little abstract - as to who is currently the legitimate pretender.

The empire had been established by the Portuguese royal family, forced to flee to the then colony in 1808, escorted by the Royal Navy, as Napoleon's troops over-ran their homeland. Fourteen years later, in a bizarre twist, the Prince Regent led Brazil into independence, becoming the Emperor Pedro I.

The empire lasted until 1889, when the army intervened, a republic was set up, and the Orleans-Bragancas were packed off into exile. The Princess Imperial Isabel, Joao's grandmother, settled in France, with her husband.

When Joao was six, an amnesty allowed the family to recover many of their estates. Joao stayed in Europe to complete his studies, moving to Brazil in 1935, aged 19. During the second world war he patrolled the coastline in an air force Catalina flying-boat. Thereafter, he was a lieutenant-colonel in the reserve and vice-president of Pan-Air do Brasil (now Varig).

He held the Grand Cross of the Order of the Rose, a decoration instituted by Pedro I on his marriage in 1829, and the Grand Cross of the Order of Pedro I.

In his retirement he went to live in the colonial town of Paraty, on the coast between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Having fallen in love with the place - a favourite setting for feature films and soap operas in recent years - he made his home at number four Rua Fresca.

Married twice, he is survived by his second wife, Theresa, and his only son, Prince Joao "Joaozinho" Henrique, born to his first wife, the Egyptian Fatima Sherifa Cherine, from whom he was divorced in 1971, and two grandchildren.